Keith_W

Well the fallout from that movie continues. Second week and it's massively losing viewers at the box office. Ridley Scott has told historians to "get a life" because he is feeling the heat from all the historic inaccuracies in the film. 
 
A much better movie about Napoleon is Waterloo (1970) starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon, Christopher Plummer as Wellington, and Orson Welles as Louis XVIII. It is free to watch on Youtube! 

Copper is available, but it is expensive at the moment. What you could do is develop and release the kit without the copper bottom. Sell the coppering kit as an optional extra. If people want to swallow the cost, they can. If they want to save some money and go for an alternative (e.g. paint to simulate copper) they can. 

Copper is available, but it is expensive at the moment. What you could do is develop and release the kit without the copper bottom. Sell the coppering kit as an optional extra. If people want to swallow the cost, they can. If they want to save some money and go for an alternative (e.g. paint to simulate copper) they can. 

Copper is available, but it is expensive at the moment. What you could do is develop and release the kit without the copper bottom. Sell the coppering kit as an optional extra. If people want to swallow the cost, they can. If they want to save some money and go for an alternative (e.g. paint to simulate copper) they can. 

Copper is available, but it is expensive at the moment. What you could do is develop and release the kit without the copper bottom. Sell the coppering kit as an optional extra. If people want to swallow the cost, they can. If they want to save some money and go for an alternative (e.g. paint to simulate copper) they can. 

Chris,
 
The world is short of copper and the situation is likely to be tough for the foreseeable future. There is huge growing demand for copper globally from the drive to net zero and electrification. Electric vehicles (which use 3-4x the copper of an internal combustion engine vehicle), decentralised renewable generation which needs to be connected to electricity grids (both of which are copper intensive), etc. Whilst copper supply is under pressure with few sizeable new ore bodies being found or new mines being developed; existing mines are experiencing significant ore degradation and do not have infinite mine lives. Most commodity experts I meet forecast the copper market being in material deficit from 2026 and with the deficit getting worse each year to 2030.
 
Sure Tesla are doing some clever stuff with 48V and reducing the need for copper in EVs, but it’s unlikely to be sufficient or soon enough. Short of a major macroeconomic event such as a major recession or collapse in Chinese demand, I don’t see what derails the scenario outlined above. 
 
The current inability of your supplier to source copper may be due to post-covid supply chain and inflation related dislocations, so near term supply of copper sheets to your supplier may return, but longer term, high quality copper sheets are likely to become unavailable again or very expensive. 

Copper is available, but it is expensive at the moment. What you could do is develop and release the kit without the copper bottom. Sell the coppering kit as an optional extra. If people want to swallow the cost, they can. If they want to save some money and go for an alternative (e.g. paint to simulate copper) they can. 

Chris, you need to press gang your kids to work for you so that you can free up some time to get back to what you are really good at, which is designing models! Are you working on anything new right now? 

I do have the gun brig Adder and another small kit that will soon be released in the new year (All they need is the prototypes building and then manual completed, as everything else is done, designs, cut files, plans etc.) -  and yesterday I did make a small start on my 17th kit.
 
ETA - This year hasn't been so bad, with Indy released in March, followed by Grecian and Trial cutter, plus the Speedy rework, which was no small job.

Chris, you need to press gang your kids to work for you so that you can free up some time to get back to what you are really good at, which is designing models! Are you working on anything new right now? 

Chris, you need to press gang your kids to work for you so that you can free up some time to get back to what you are really good at, which is designing models! Are you working on anything new right now? 

Chris, you need to press gang your kids to work for you so that you can free up some time to get back to what you are really good at, which is designing models! Are you working on anything new right now? 

My company builds frame sets for large-scale R/C boats. We have been making frame sets since 2015 and have always used a laser. When I visited my supplier, Jotika, a couple of years ago, I spent a few hours with John Wright, the owner, and he really opened my eyes about the difference between a laser and a CNC cutter. There is no doubt, for many reasons, that the CNC does a much better job. 
 
First, the precision is much higher with the CNC machine. As long as you measure your drill bit and your material, you can get more precision that with the laser. Even you account for the kerf on the laser, and you measure your material, you still have a char on the laser-cut parts. That char needs to be removed or the glue doesn't penetrate the material.
 
Second, you can make pockets with a CNC. For example, you can make parts fit without passing all the way through. Also, with pockets, you can do things like "engrave" windows in the stern panels of models. In your case, you might find that quite interesting for your model. That cannot be done with a laser-cutter. 
 
I spent about a year using a full-size CNC machine at a furniture-maker, designing furniture, and then actually using the machine and making the prototypes myself. It was great fun and taught me a lot about woodworking. 
 
So, as soon as I can find someone around here that has a decent CNC machine, I will start designing for that. I suspect the price of my frame sets will go up slightly but, when people are paying many thousands of dollars to build a big R/C model, I think they will appreciate the improvement in quality. 
 
(By the way, I am planning on building the Cutty Sark myself, in 1/48 but, hey, your model might be even more fun to do!)
 
In brackets because I do not want to market a kit in 1/40 scale. It just isn't part of the large scales that I use. 
 
Best Regards, 

Rick
 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

Of course! That is a fair observation, and it was something I missed when I looked at the video. Thank you for pointing that out. 
 
I for one would love to see more French ships on the market. We have plenty of British and Spanish ships. But there is no Bucentaure or Redoubtable. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

I visited @BANYAN yesterday and I had a good look at this model. It is even more impressive in real life than in photos. Those parts that you see are tiny and perfectly formed. This is even more incredible when you remember that he suffers from essential tremor and his hands shake when he is modelling. My hands are perfectly steady and I can't do that. I guess it comes down to skill and determination. Totally inspiring to overcome a disability like that and produce the results that he does. 

Oh yes, his modelling room is so clean that you could probably eat out of every surface. 

It will be almost impossible to fabricate a moulding out of wood. The grain will be running in different directions, and it would be incredibly fragile. 
 
This is what I did when I had to fabricate my own windows: 
 

I used a milling machine (Proxxon MF70) to mill a channel in a block of wood, then my Byrnes table saw to take off slices. The moulding was made with strip styrene glued to the curved edge, and the whole thing was painted. 
 
If you really want to make the moulding out of wood, you will need to carve it out with a suitable router bit that you may have to fabricate yourself. It will need to be supported by thick wood to stop it from breaking off. I would suggest a Proxxon MF70 with the CNC option but that is a lot of money to invest in only one part. 

I own everything that Jim made except for the ropewalk. This means that I have corresponded with him and Donna many times. I have always found them to be prompt and courteous, but there was also something else ... they were such warm people! I didn't know that Jim was only 64 (meaning he was my age when I bought my table saw from him). That is much too young. I think as we can see here, his loss was felt not only by his friends and family, but also by people who have never met him, like myself. 
 
Rest in peace. 

Darn, these Hollywood product placement deals are going to a whole new level! First it was fast food, soft drinks, and cars ... and now ship models! I'll bet Artesania is green with envy that they chose Syren and not Artesania as a subject. To make it extra realistic, you should tell Ed Harris to crawl around looking for a tiny part he dropped on the floor ...